


Washing

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 18:16:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11167383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Mrs Holdsworth takes care of an exhausted rider. Inspired by the fact that the ripped jeans in SSO now have blue in the tears instead of skin colour





	Washing

Mrs Holdsworth rode her shaggy old Icelandic out of Moorland Stables at a slow, plodding pace. In horse years, Lighthope was probably as old as Mrs Holdsworth. But she was still a reliable old thing. She had carried her rider through all kinds of weather over all kinds of terrain, just like Bravehope had once done for Mississippi Jones. Mrs Holdsworth wasn’t anywhere near as famous or brave as her great ancestor, but she didn’t mind. There was something to be said for old ladies who took care of the younger residents of Jorvik.

It was quite late in the day, so Mrs Holdsworth enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine warming her skin and rising up from the ground. There were still some riders out and about, taking their horses out for a ride or also enjoying the sunset with their friends. But soon, Mrs Holdsworth came upon a peculiar sight. There was a horse standing alone out in the Fields of Gold, sniffing along a crumpled form. 

“Oh dear,” said Mrs Holdsworth, stopping her Icelandic and dismounting with an ease that not many people would believe she possessed. She crouched down beside the body on the ground, feeling for a pulse. She found one, though it was slow in sleep. The person was also breathing slowly and deeply. The poor dear must have passed out. And their clothes were dirty. But that wouldn’t be a problem.

Mrs Holdsworth got up, lifting the sleeping rider in her arms, and put them over the back of her horse. Lighthope took the new weight quite easily, barely moving except to distribute the weight more evenly.

“Come on now, Lighthope, let’s get this poor dear home,” said Mrs Holdsworth, and set off back towards Moorland. The riderless horse plodded along beside her, continually nosing their rider in concern.

Once she got back to her cottage, Mrs Holdsworth carried the rider inside and tucked them into bed. Then, after a quick trip to the Moorland Stable house, Mrs Holdsworth returned to her cottage and set down the new set of clothes beside the sleeping rider.

When the rider finally awoke, it was the next morning and Mrs Holdsworth was sitting on her front porch with her tea and toast with butter and honey.

“Good morning, dear,” said Mrs Holdsworth as the front door opened and the rider stepped outside. “Did you sleep well?”

“How long was I out?” asked the rider, rubbing their eyes.

“Oh, since sunset yesterday,” said Mrs Holdsworth. “Don’t worry, dear. I picked you up and brought you home.”

“Oh… well, thanks,” said the rider.

“It was my pleasure, dear,” said Mrs Holdworth. “Now, would you like to take a nice bath? I can wash your clothes for you, and I left some fresh clothes for you in the bedroom.”

“That would be nice, thanks,” said the rider. While they bathed, Mrs Holdsworth gathered their clothes and put the laundry on. Washing clothing was so much easier now that there was new technology. She could even dry the clothes in no time (usually she would dry them on the clothesline, but she thought that the rider would want their clothes back quickly).

Finally, after the washing had been done, Mrs Holdsworth got out her sewing kit and patched up those torn jeans. Really, she wished that some riders would be more careful. These jeans were all ripped in the knees and down the legs. It had been bothering her for quite some time, but now, she finally had the chance to fix them up for the poor dear. So she grabbed some light blue patches and got to work.

“Here are your things, dear,” said Mrs Holdsworth, handing the clothes to the rider. “I even fixed up those jeans for you.”

“Oh… well, thanks,” said the rider. “Wait, what did you do to my jeans?”

“I patched them up,” said Mrs Holdsworth. “Unfortunately I couldn’t sew the holes up, but I put some patches on them so now they’re good as new.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that,” said the rider, giving a little laugh as they looked at their newly-repaired ripped jeans.

“Nonsense, dear, I simple couldn’t allow you to ride around with ruined jeans,” said Mrs Holdsworth. “It was no bother at all to fix them for you.”

“Haha, yeah, right,” said the rider. “Well, I’d better be off now. I’ll see you later.”

“Goodbye, dear,” said Mrs Holdworth, waving to them as they rode off.


End file.
